Dynasty Warriors 4: North American Impressions

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Movies, screens, and plenty of info from the U.S. burn.

By Jeremy Dunham

Dynasty Warriors 4 has been lighting up the sales charts in Japan since it debuted there under the guise of its Nihongo title Shin Sangoku Musou 3. The first game in the series to utilize the brand new "siege engine" as well as several randomized elements, DW4 is as big a success in the motherland as Koei could hope for. Much to the surprise of hungry American gamers, however, the English version is scheduled to ship only a month after its Japanese brother; putting it on target for an appearance on our shelves just a few weeks removed from today. Though it was difficult to believe possible at first, we received undeniable proof this afternoon when representatives from Koei hand-delivered the finished US copies directly to our waiting hands. Talk about translation efficiency.

Given the limited amount of time we've had to play so far, there's still plenty for us to discover in terms of what Dynasty Warriors 4 has to offer. From what we've though, the game is already an impressive leap over the ultra-slick PS2-only release, Xtreme Legends.

For starters, the enemy A.I. is a lot less predictable than it used to be. No longer confined to the same pattern-based attacks that it held onto so dearly, DW4 is now entirely random with its aggression method --Or should I say, it's less predictable. As the action unfolds, the computer's strategy adapts itself to meet the challenges that you are giving it. So while in the past, a certain unit of soldiers would always be in a set spot every time, the new model puts that unit in a different place entirely. Bunched together with another unit to form a regiment, spread out into thinner numbers to be less effective, or bolstered into something else entirely, the groups of soldiers here are far less predictable. Further ensuring that no two sessions will ever be the same, your alter ego can also find themselves starting in different locations or becoming ambushed by surprise attackers (either scripted or randomly) at any given time. Replay was obviously an important focus for the producers at Omega Force.

Of course, there are other gameplay changes that we've noticed as well; like the extreme weakening of the established brute force characters (Guan Yu, Cao Cao) and improved effectiveness of former pushovers (Sun Shang Xiang, Zhang Fei). These alterations can change existing strategies quite a bit for those of us that expect certain levels of dominance from their favorite Chinese warriors. Speaking of characters, your bodyguards are a lot more intelligent and aggressive too; focusing on the deadlier opponents on the battlefield instead of whatever peon gets in their way, they aren't the faceless helpers they once were. As an added bonus, you can now select your bodyguards based on a theme instead of a model type -- so instead of choosing the Amazon warrior or Yellow Turban bodyguard type, you can instead select helpers from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Kessen, or the Koei and Mystery subsets. Unfortunately these selections seem to be in name only, so we have yet to ascertain what the differences between the themes really are.

Weapons and equipment are handled in a different way as well, and utilize a method we appreciate a whole lot more: Rather than trying to find a new set of weapons to upgrade your character's battle savvy, your weapon now gains experience points for important kills and effective combinations. Slaughter an opposing major or general, or throw together a hefty multi-hit combo, and your weapon will become more effective and powerful. Should you be a stickler for the old way of doing things, however, don't worry -- each weapon can only achieve three total levels before you need to find the next type to progress.